


You And Me And Alcohol

by TheDevilInHerself



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 04:50:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12425361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDevilInHerself/pseuds/TheDevilInHerself
Summary: There isn't much that can make a man crumble quite like the love of a woman. Or the loss of her.





	You And Me And Alcohol

**Author's Note:**

> Two drabbles I put up on tumbler that I made into a chapter for here.

You found him at the bar, five drinks in and already listless. You had heard the rumors, everyone had. The great Blackwatch Commander, Gabriel Reyes, reduced to a lush. Your heart crumbled to see the whispered talk wasn’t a lie. Taking a deep breath, you approached him, preparing for a fight. 

Gabriel began to down his sixth drink as you came to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. As he turned to face you, the scowl overtaking his face faltered, eyes taking a second to focus on you before a large grin exposed his dazzling teeth.

“Well, if it ain’t the star of the tonight’s li-little party. Congradulatiou-tions on the promotion.” Gabe was loud, perhaps louder then he intended. Clasping his hand on your back, a sharp sting ensued from the man’s strength. He was doing his best to act casual, like nothing had ever happened, like he was getting along just fine. But you could tell he was anything but.

You weren’t surprised he was acting like this. Never let them see you hurting. That was Gabe’s moto. Besides, it’s not like he could be open about things, even with the Blackwatch boys. Your relationship had been a secret. He was several ranks above you and besides that, accusations of favoritism were already leveled against him when it came to Genji and McCree. You could only imagine how bad it would be if people found out you were sleeping together.

That’s why you had broken it off. There were plenty of people that wanted to take Gabe out of power. You weren’t about to be the means to that end. It had been hard, your resolve already weak when you had started the conversation. It had only gotten worse from there when Gabe began to argue, throwing every reason he could think of at you, his words so convincing, eyes so enticing. In the end, you had to run away before you caved.

Even then, the hardship did not end. Your night was brutal, spent crying into your pillow as Gabe alternated between blowing up your phone and banging on your door, not relenting in his pursuit. It wasn’t till 3 am that a silence finally fell upon you, leaving you to chant to yourself: ‘This is for Gabe’s safety. This is for Gabe’s safety.’ over and over again till you slipped into a restless sleep.

That had been three weeks ago, and now, at your promotion ceremony, was the first time you could brave to face him. A part of you hoped it would be easier like this. But as you looked into his red, glossy eyes, one wrong word away from breaking down, you knew that wouldn’t be the case. 

“I think you’ve had enough, Commander.” You stated, eyes fixing on his glass to avoid the hurt in his eyes. 

“No, I’m good.” He slurred, clumsily leaning back to pull the drink away from your extended hand. 

“Commander, please. You’re making a scene.” Unlike Gabe, you were all too aware of the eyes that fell on the two of you. Blissfully ignorant, the man threw back what remained of his whiskey before shouting down the bartender for another. 

“I don’t care.” He muttered. You winced at the cruelty in his tone, eyes disdainful as they spared you a side glance. 

Again, you reached out in an attempt to take his drink, and again he pulled away, almost tipping out of his chair. But this time he pushed you away, hand illcoordinated as it shoved against your left breast. You were unfazed by his attempt, grabbing his arm to steady him.

“Just leave me alone.” His voice was low, almost a growl as he chugged more of his whiskey, face contorting as the sting set in. 

“You can’t keep doing this to yourself.” Your voice was soft, calming as rubbed you hand across his back, an act that usually relaxed him. Sadly, in his current state, the act only served to anger him. 

“What the fuck do you care!” He shouted, knocking the stool over in a burst of rage. His eyes cut you to the core, stirring a well of sadness inside you that had been suppressed every day since that night. 

Despite his furry, the alcohol won out as he stumbled against the bar, barely maintaining his balance as his feet gave out beneath him. As he clutched at the bar, slumped over and vision spinning, the fight left him, addled brain desperately focused on the task of staying upright.

You were to his side quickly, slipping under his arm to support him before he could protest. Gabriel shook against you in a clumsy attempt at freedom, but soon resigned himself to his fate as his mind seemed to float around him and fade in and out. 

“I hate you.” He muttered, bitterness in his voice as you pulled him to his feet.

“Yeah, I know.” You replied, knowing his words were hollow, a place holder for what he really wanted to say.

Growing silent, the drunken Commander was limp against you, putting up no fight as you struggled towards the exit. The man was heavy with muscle, proving a challenge as you did your best to draw little to no attention towards the two of you. Wanting to spare Gabe as much embarrassment as possible, you stuck to the outskirts of the crowd. Your legs hurt with the strain of supporting the man’s dead weight. 

“God damn Gabe. You haven’t even been here an hour.” Your heart jumped into your throat as your Strike Commander’s voice reached you. The last person Gabe would want to see him like this. But as the weight lifted off your shoulder, you were surprised to see Morrison shifting the drunk up to lean on his steady form.

“Fuck off Jack.” Gabriel slurred, though his voice was hushed and lethargic. 

“Same to you buddy.” Morrison mused, giving you a reassuring grin as he dragged the Blackwatch Commander towards the exit. “I can help you two to a cab, but I need to stay here for the evening. So you’ll have to get him to his room by yourself.” The blond stated as the two of you pushed through the set of double doors that led to a side exit.

“Will he be alright on his own? He’s pretty drunk.” You asked, regarding the incoherent man with a mixture of worry and guilt. 

“Yeah. About that.” Morrison hummed, eyes looking up at the night sky, unable to meet yours. “Do me a favor. Stay with him.” You blinked at the man, taken aback by your superior’s request. 

“I don’t think it would be appropriate to spend the night in a superior’s room.” You stated with all the practice of a good recruit. Though really, your reasons for not wanting to spend the night were purely selfish. There were too many memories in that room.

“Yeah, well, he’s useless like this.” Morrison retorted, hailing a taxi as blinding headlight grew closer. “And besides, I wasn’t talking about just tonight.” Wide eyed and wordless, you stood, jaw slack as his meaning sunk in.

“Sir?-“ Tossing Gabe to topple in the car, the blond straightened himself before turning to face you.

“Look, he’s no good to me if he’s like this all the time. Just be discreet and keep him in line. Besides, you’re good for him. I’ve known Gabe a long time, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything make him as happy, or as miserable, as you do.” Before you could reply, Morrison had his hand on your shoulder, guiding you into the car with a kind smile. “Please be good to him. He needs someone like you.” Not giving you a chance to speak up, your superior shut the door, waving to the driver to take off as he left you with a lot to think about, and a very disheveled Gabe to care for. 

*********************************************

Gabe awoke with a start, throat soar and head pounding. The light that streamed in through the window only served to exasperates pain as his stomach seemed to be climbing up his throat and making him dizzy. With a lifeless groan, the man pulled his pillow over his face to block out the world around him. 

This was the norm for him now. Waking up as if on the verge of death, his own body betraying him as he suffered the consequence of his drunken days. That first half hour of the morning was the worst. When his body was as fucked up as he felt on the inside, everything collaborating against him to remind him just how pathetic his life was. 

Every morning he was quick to grab one of the many bottles of alcohol that littered his room, most of them half finished before being tossed aside for another. The drinking didn’t help block out the memory of you, but it helped numb him enough that he could convince himself he didn’t care. That seeing you around the base every day wasn’t killing him. That he didn’t go to bed every night imagining you in the arms of someone else. Genji, Jesse, maybe even Jack. No, he didn’t care, it didn’t matter. He didn’t love you at all. They could all have you. You meant nothing to him. 

From under the pillow he reached out for the tequila bottle on his night stand, hand knocking a few other mostly empty bottles off the surface before finding what it was looking for. The sound of the liquid sloshing around in the glass made his stomach rise to the back of his throat, briefly considering if he needed to make a run for the trash before he swallowed it back down.

Grumbling to himself, he fumbled with the lid, tossing the cap aside as he braved to venture from beneath the pillow just long enough for the glass rim to come to his lips in a poisonous kiss.

“Please don’t.” As a small, soft hand lay over his, Gabriel nearly jumped out of his skin. Yanking the bottle away, he heaved over the side of the bed, gut clenching as his body expelled the toxin that had festered in his stomach overnight. A warm hand rubbed gentle circles over his clammy back, gentle and familiar. At the smell of vomit, the man retched again, coughing furiously as he fought to breath. He sputtered for several minutes, before his body had nothing left to expel, leaving him a panting, sweaty mess as he rolled over onto his back, forearm shielding his eyes against the harsh morning rays. 

“Why are you here?” He muttered, surprised but guarded as he peeked out at you from under his arm. You took that opportunity to slip the bottle from his hand, setting it on the night stand furthest from him.

“You got drunk out of your mind at the ceremony last night. I brought you home before you made a fool of yourself.” Your voice was soft, soothing, exactly what he didn’t need right now. Any memories of last night eluded him, though he maintained a buzz from it. Gabe knew he wasn’t near gone enough for you to be so sweet with him, for you to be laying in his bed just as you always had, for your eyes to be that soft as they looked at him with worry.

He wished you would yell at him, scream, tell him how incompetent he was and how much he was fucking everything up. It would be easier that way, maybe even hurt less. Rolling over, he reached for another bottle, something to block out everything he was feeling in that moment, but your delicate hand took his wrist, and he did not fight it. 

“Why are you still here? I’m fine on my own.” He didn’t look at you. Couldn’t look at you. Not when your eyes were so soft and familiar.

“Gabe, I’m worried about you.” The hole in his heart expanded, a void too big for any amount of alcohol to fill as your hand remained on his arm, thumb rubbing small circles over his skin. A unconscious habit of yours that used to bring him comfort.

“Yeah, well, don’t.” The bitterness in his tone could not mask the hurt, the forced apathy as he slumped against the pillow.

“Gabe. It’s killing me to see you like this.” You were a bit firmer as you leaned against him, breast pushing into his back as you tried to look him in the eyes. Tried to get a read on him. As tears pricked at his eyes, something in the man finally broke. 

Before he could help himself, Gabriel jerked around violently, anger taking over to mix with the alcohol and overtake his better judgement. His lips were mashed against yours as he pushed you onto the bed, the smell of vomit and liquor making you sick as his weight pinned you down. Yet despite it you did not pull away, did not fight him. 

You could feel his tears drip down onto your cheek, feel the small tremble in his chest as barely audible whimper escaped him. Gabe knew he was fucking up, knew this would only make things worse, only push you away, but he couldn’t help himself. You being so close, laying here in his bed, the smell of your perfume lingering from the night before, the way your hands touched him, a ghost of what they once were. He missed you too much. 

He again felt sick as something inside him became aware of what he was doing, but it was too late. His lips parted to slur out some apology or explanation, neither of which he had prepared. But in the end, even Gabe was surprised by what passed his lips.

“Stay with me. Please.” His voice was sounded so sad, carrying all the heartache of a broken man as he pulled away to look at you pleadingly, tears still falling. He was surprised to see his tears mixing with your own as your glossy eyes looked up at him, two trails streaming down you face as you bit your lip. He wanted to think of something to say, some way to take the words back, kicking himself for what a pathetic fool he had become. But as your arms wrapped around his neck, squeezing him tight as you buried yourself into him, Gabe couldn’t mistake the bewildered joy in your voice.

“I’d like that.”


End file.
